LR: ET Johnsen, Kylie Goldsberry, Abbie Cox and Joseph Butterfield attend the Educators Rising Conference, date and location TBA | Photo by Kylie Goldsberry, St. George News
Last week, I had the opportunity to watch the first group of students graduate from Career Tech High School. CTHS is the newest high school in the Washington County School District and is located at the corner of River Road and Southern Parkway.
Drone photograph taken undated over Career Tech High School in St. George, Utah | Photo by Darren Lister, St. George News
These graduates will be entering at age 3 or 4. CTHS has its fair share of gifted students, but this is not a Doogie Howser or Young Sheldon situation…at least not yet.
These graduates are the CTHS Kindergarten “Tiny Titans.” The official mascot of CTHS is the Titan. It was moving, adorable and thought-provoking to watch Tiny Titan demonstrate what he's learned this year by spelling his name, counting to 15 and reciting the days of the week.
I have less than a week left (four days to be exact) until the end of my 13th year as a teacher. I taught language arts for the first 11 years, then worked in administration for a year, before accepting a position as an Educational Pathways teacher at CTHS.
Now, as the final day of the school year comes and goes, I reflect on what the students and faculty of CTHS have accomplished in just one year and look forward to the promise and potential the school holds for years to come.
For those of you who don't know about CTHS, it is the newest high school in the Washington County School District. However, CTHS is not a traditional high school. As the name suggests, the school focuses on career technical education. CTHS is considered a “magnet” school, meaning it does not have a boundary designation like most other schools.
Tools and equipment are prepared for students to use during a workshop at Career Tech High School in St. George, Utah, on Oct. 11, 2023. Photo by Nick Yamashita, St. George News
Instead, students who wish to attend CTHS can apply during the eighth grade and begin attending from grades 9 through 12. Once admitted, CTHS students choose one of eight career pathways:
Business, Marketing & Entrepreneurship Construction & Architecture Culinary Arts, Tourism & Hospitality Education Engineering, Technology & Robotics Graphic Design Health Sciences Information Technology & Cyber Security
While other schools in Utah offer career and pathway-based learning opportunities, CTHS is unique in that it houses all of the core subjects (English, math, science, etc.) in the same location. Students who attend CTHS continue to attend traditional core classes, but most of their electives are tied to their chosen career path.
This unique education model allows students to gain workplace learning experience, gain practical skills and industry certification while studying core subjects.
For example, in Education Pathways, students have the opportunity to work one hour out of every eight hours in the on-site preschool (adjacent to the education classrooms).
Abby Cox and her kindergarten students learn from each other at Career Tech High School in St. George, Utah. Date TBD. Photo by Ryan Rarick, St. George News
Students work with professional preschool educators and learn how to manage a classroom, teach small and whole group lessons, and positively reinforce desired student behaviors.
In fact, at Tiny Titan's graduation ceremony, many of my high school students were in the program. In the future, my students will graduate from kindergarten and have the opportunity to gain work experience in elementary and middle schools. I hope to one day hire some of my students to be my peer teachers.
Other courses also offer a range of work experience opportunities: Construction and Architecture students design and build sheds and tiny houses, building homes which are featured in the annual St George's Parade of Homes, and Culinary Arts students have the opportunity to run a real café within CTHS.
Engineering students have traveled to California to explore behind the scenes of the Millennium Falcon and learn how it works, watched a presentation on how to assemble a SpaceX rocket, and honestly, the list of hands-on experiences CTHS students get to have goes on and on.
As my excitement and enthusiasm for what's happening at CTHS grows, I also remember the awe that we've come so far. The start of the school year was definitely tough – we weren't even allowed into the school building until two days before school started.
Children competed in the BlockKids Building Contest at Career Tech High School in St. George, Utah on October 27, 2023. | Photo by Nick Yamashita, St. George News
The air conditioning broke, water spilled into the hallways, students, faculty, and administrators had no traditions to fall back on, and we were all trying to establish a culture of “this is how we do things here.”
These struggles continued through the first and second quarter of the year, but then something magical happened. When winter break ended and students returned to school, the atmosphere at CTHS changed. The simplest way to explain it is to quote Principal Chris Homer: “We found our culture.”
The change was palpable and real. I vividly remember one of the students during an activity saying, “We used to be shy and nervous around each other, but now we're best friends. We're like family now.”
Ultimately, as I reflect on CTHS' first year, what strikes me most is the power of purpose in education. When students become passionate about their career endeavors, I see that passion pay off in all areas of their education.
Initial results from the Utah ASPIRE Plus exams show significant gains in both student growth and proficiency in the academic areas of English, math, reading and science.
Drone photograph taken undated over Career Tech High School in St. George, Utah | Photo by Darren Lister, St. George News
Now I'm back at the Tiny Titans graduation, watching amazing kindergarten teachers guide their students through the program, and witnessing my students motivate a nervous 3-year-old to imitate a spider during a funny part of the program (after all, it's pretty scary for a 3-year-old to perform in front of a room full of adults).
I am simultaneously proud to see a high school student who was a shy, quiet student just nine months ago become a calming, encouraging mentor to his students.
I was also struck by the idea that if one of my students decided to become a fourth-grade teacher, my high school students might actually teach those preschoolers. These ideas could apply to other career paths too: You could buy a home built by CTHS construction students, visit a restaurant created by CTHS culinary students, or rely on IT and cybersecurity students to protect you from identity thieves.
These are all thoughts on what may be in the future, but for now I will leave it at that… This school year has been amazing. I have grown and strived as an educator, my students have exceeded my highest expectations, and I have watched them discover the true purpose of education.
To anyone reading this with a school-age child or who is school-age themselves…Come find your “why” at CT High.”
Submitted by: Ryan Rarick, Career Tech High School (St. George, Utah).
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